Allowing youth workers and Cudahy dev.

November 24, 2009

By Jeff Plale, 7th District State Senator

On Nov. 5, the state Senate passed several pieces of legislation I authored including Senate Bill 349 (SB 349) and Assembly Bill 174 (AB 174). While very different in scope, both bills make it easier for our communities to work together to address shared concerns.

Earlier this year, the Cudahy-St. Francis Interfaith organization informed me that certain work regulations could prevent youth from participating in essential snow removal and basic yard work programs for the elderly. Current Wisconsin law prohibits the employment of minors under the age of 14, but the success of these programs is largely due to the involvement of the 12- and 13-year-olds who do the shoveling and yard work.

SB 349 allows a minor to be employed by a nonprofit organization in and around the home of an elderly person or a person with a disability to assist with snow shoveling or yard maintenance. This change in law allows ongoing, well-intentioned community programs to continue, benefiting those who cannot do the work themselves.

Clearing Way for Retail Development

The other piece of legislation, AB 174, was signed into law by Governor Doyle Nov. 12. It will facilitate crucial economic development in the city of Cudahy and across Wisconsin.

Cudahy needed the new law so it could transfer $2.1 million of excess property tax revenue from an existing environmental remediation tax incremental district (ETID), generated from the Cudahy Connection Condominiums near Buckhorn and Ramsey avenues, to a new ETID in Cudahy that did not have the adequate funding to undergo required environmental remediation. Without remediation, the land cannot be developed. AB 174 allowed for the transfer of that revenue.

Enactment of AB 174 means Cudahy can develop the 32-acre parcel of land at the southwest corner of Layton and Pennsylvania avenues, formerly used for three municipal landfills, which has remained unused for nearly 30 years due to the high cost of clean-up. Cudahy and the potential developer, Cobalt Partners of Milwaukee, now have the financial means to move forward with plans for a retail development on the site. Cudahy will finally be able to turn an unproductive piece of land into a tax-producing asset for the community.

Jeff Plale is the state senator for Wisconsin’s Seventh Senate District, which spans from Milwaukee’s East Side to Oak Creek, including downtown, the Third Ward, Bay View, St. Francis, Cudahy, and South Milwaukee. He can be reached locally at (414) 744-1444 or in Madison at (800) 361-5487 or sen.plale@legis.wisconsin.gov.